Princess Charlene of Monaco has launched the US arm of her foundation, which highlights learning-to-swim and water safety programmes for youth, with the aim of saving lives by putting an end to drowning.

Speaking at an event to launch the new branch yesterday, Princess Charlene commented 'Around the globe, thousands of innocent lives are tragically lost to drowning every year. I am here to share with you how many lives we are saving - and how many more we can save, simply by training the trainers and by focusing on one person, one family, and one community at a time. Having spent years teaching underprivileged children to acquire basic water safety techniques around aquatic environments, I can only say that simple ideas are often the most effective'.